Explore our collection of theological essays, biblical studies, and reflections on faith and culture.
Notwithstanding she shall be saved in childbearing, if they continue in faith and charity and holiness with sobriety. (1 Timothy 2:15) Years ago, the wife of a prominent American theologian recognized that even in Christian circles mothers were under a kind of social pressure to justify the worthwhileness of their…
I caught my five year old washing his hands again. He had already washed them several times that hour, so I asked him if he was okay. He told me he didn’t want to get “the virus”. That was before I had told him anything about coronavirus, but we did…
Very early in life, I developed the habit of walking and thinking and meditating. I came from a rather strict home, and the only way I could get out of the house at night was to walk the dog. So, I did. I would walk the dog for miles and…
From lightning and tempest; from plague, pestilence, and famine; from battle and murder, and from sudden death, Good Lord, deliver us. The Fourth Deprecation from Thomas Cranmer's 1544 Litany 1 A deprecation, such as that above, is a prayer to be spared from disaster, its Latin root deprecari meaning to…
In the previous essay in this series, we saw that Jesus’ words about coming on the clouds were spoken on more than one occasion, first to the disciples on the Mount of Olives (Matthew 24:30; Mark 11:36; Luke 21:27), then, a few days later, to the high priest and Jewish…
The following is excerpted from an essay first published at Church Life Journal . We are grateful to the editors for permission to repost here. The word “science” at its root means “to know” and the word “theology” at its root means “to think about God.” Can we know anything…
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Examining the contributions that the Abbey of la Trinite, Vendome, made to its local community, Penelope Johnson ( Prayer, Patronage, and Power: The Abbey of la Trinite, Vendome, 1032-1187 ,158-9) notes the abbey “was actively involved in providing sustenance to the hungry” and adds that “much of this monastic charity…
Ancient men worshiped by giving gifts to the gods. Modern humanitarians worship by giving gifts to men. It’s as if everyone thinks that true worship is the worship of man. It’s as if everyone is somehow knows that there is a man on the throne of heaven, even people who…
Gulliver doing his field work in Lilliput: “There are some laws and customs in this empire very peculiar; and if they were not so directly contrary to those of my own dear country, I should be tempted to say a little in their justification. It is only to be wished…
A thought or two on Ruth arising from student papers. The book begins with “a certain man ” (1:1) and introduces a couple of other men (1:2). In a few verses, the men are all dead, and the next time a man appears in the story it is Boaz (2:1).…
Lester K. Little ( Religious Poverty and the Profit Economy in Medieval Europe , 66-7) writes, “In Benedict’s Rule, the liturgy took up about one-fourth of a monk’s waking hours; by the late eleventh century it had expanded to fill practically the entire day. The original number of psalms to…
Some years ago, Jacques Le Goff argued in The Birth of Purgatory that the notion of Purgatory as a place distinct from heaven and hell emerged only in the late twelfth century. Notions of purgation after death appear much earlier, but Le Goff claimed that the linguistic evidence pointed to…
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